DEAD FOX DEADENS THE FESTIVE SPIRIT

CHRIS PACKHAM PICKED ON AGAIN - DEAD FOX LEFT FOR HIM

Chris Packham
Image caption
Chris Packham posted a video on Twitter after the fox was left outside his home
TV naturalist Chris Packham has posted a video of a dead fox which he said had been left outside his home in the New Forest.
He said the body of a male fox found in his backyard showed injuries consistent with being snared.
He said that when he speaks out about fox hunting "unpleasant things happen".
Earlier this year, dead crows were left on his gatepost after he led a legal challenge to halt the licensed shooting of crows.
Dead fox found by Chris PackhamImage copyrightCHRIS PACKHAM
Image caption
Chris Packham said the male fox found in his backyard showed injuries consistent with being snared.
In the video posted on Twitter the BBC Springwatch presenter referred to recent media reports involving foxes, including prominent lawyer Jolyon Maugham killing one with a baseball bat, and Boxing Day hunts with "foxes killed left right and centre".
He said CCTV would be reviewed in an attempt to identify the culprit.
"It seems if you stick up for foxes, you get your comeuppance from people who still think it is a good idea to kill them.
"Wouldn't it be good if we could just stop this fox hunting once and for all. It's illegal but it carries on and when you campaign against it, unpleasant things happen."
Hampshire Constabulary has been contacted for comment.
In April some dead crows were left on Packham's gatepost after his Wild Justice campaign group mounted a legal challenge to halt the licensed shooting of crows.
The move provoked a backlash from farmers groups and others.
A Change.org petition calling on the BBC to "sack Chris Packham" has received more than 160,000 signatures.
But a counter petition was also set up opposing any potential sacking, saying "as a journalist [he] should be allowed to use his platform to inform everyone the reality of our dying planet".